The Independent Special Forces Battalion "Fulger" () is a military unit of the
Land Forces of the
Moldovan National Army, based in
Chisinau.
History
The battalion took the oath of allegiance to the
Republic of Moldova on 1 November 1992. To date, the unit has participated in special missions in
Iraq and been observers under the auspices of the
United Nations in
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
and the
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
. The battalion has in recent years been criticized for not efficiently using their funding and resources allocated to them.
On its 27th anniversary in 2019, American Ambassador
Dereck J. Hogan offered financial support to the unit while speaking at a ceremony hosted by the National Army Training Center, promising 3 million dollars to the contribution of the building of a new barracks and training rooms. Earlier that April, a team from the battalion was ranked first in the first
crossfit championship organized in the National Army.
Training
The soldiers of the unit are trained in the field of special tactics, military topography, physical training, planning processes. At the same time, it learns advanced shooting techniques, being trained and patented as military paratroopers or the equivalent of the
Russian Airborne Troops. The training program also includes the execution of a series of complex exercises, specific to the missions of special forces, such as
alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
training, forcing
watercourses, survival in severe conditions and medical-military training.
A group of service members from the battalion took part in the
Joint Combined Exchange Training
Joint Combined Exchange Training or JCET programs are exercises designed to provide training opportunities for American Special Forces by holding the training exercises in countries that the forces may one day have to operate in, as well as provid ...
in the Romanian city of
Buzău in late August 2016. At the exercise, called "Junction Strike 2016", soldiers of the battalion trained together with troops from
Bulgaria,
Poland,
Portugal,
Romania, the
United States, and
Turkey.
4th Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment
The 4th Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment (4-319th FAR) is the field artillery battalion assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Nicknamed "The King of the Herd", 4–319th AFAR has participated in battles from World War I to current oper ...
.
References
{{Military of Moldova
Special forces of Moldova
Military special forces battalions
1992 establishments in Moldova
Military units and formations established in 1992